Waking up the next morning, I was planning to spend another night at a local Ambulance drivers place somewhere in the jungle nearby. I was to call him in the morning to see where he was. So after breakfast I called him and found out that he wouldn't be back till after 11pm that night. Not intending to stay another two nights in the Cameron highlands I turned down the offer and decided to make my way out of the highlands that day. Plan 1 failed!.
From there I was given a lift to the bus station where I decided to take a bus to Tapah and from there to Palau Pangkor, thinking from earlier research that there would be a bus every two hours. After double checking the schedule it turned out there was only one bus which I had already missed. Plan two failed!
In addition an island with few people on it is not really the best place to spend Chinese New Year. So I decided to take a bus to Ipoh and maybe spend the night there. The bus trip descending from the highlands is beautiful as it was the way up. For those that are cloud watchers this is one place you must go, as the clouds are spectacular (unfortunately difficult to capture on camera). On arrival in Ipoh, I didn't realise that there were two bus stations and I failed to get of at the one with connecting services to other places. But it was Okay as I was thinking of spending the night in Ipoh. But on arrival the vibe didn't feel right and so I felt the urge to move on. Luckily the train station was nearby and there I found out the train was leaving in 20min. So I decided to take the train to Butterworth and spend Chinese New years on Pinang Island. Plan 3 failed! And so it is through that very cricuitous route that I arrived in Pinang by ferry at about 12:30am, and still managed to find a bed in a not to dingy hotel. While for some the price was cheap for me is was still too much.
So Pinang is like a different country when you have spent much time on the east coast of Malaysia. The large Chinese population make that place a bit more liberal and seedier than other places I had been to in Malaysia. For me not the most welcome change. Though it proved nothing compared with Thailand!The next day I searched for new accommodation and found something cheaper and went to make my way to Teluk Bahang, a small fishing village on the island. Getting there was a challenge and due to Chinese new year everybody had the day off and desperately wanted to go to a beach (sorry I cannot remember the name) that was on the way. I think we crammed about 30 more people than the legal limit and I spent much of the trip propped up against the front window of the bus after just managing to get on.
Where as most of the crowd got off at the main beach, Teluk Bahang was 5km further up the road, leaving the tourists (and many locals) behind. The Kampung is a quiet village with plenty of hammocks and the gentle hum of families spending the day together as is the tradition. After eating some Sharkfin and crab meat soup I walked to the local beach and watched the kids play in the surf. After while a whole family came and setup lunch in front of me. A crew of about 15-20, including many kids. They kindly started offering me fruits and drinks, and so I spent the afternoon chatting with them about this and that, and tried my best to explain the distinction between Catholic and Protestant churches, something that I am hardly qualified to do. After the family got up and left and sat and talked with some students who were taking a couple of days holiday on the island, pitching their tent on the beach and relaxing. They were somewhat surprised when I said I felt safe in Malaysia as they had a contrasting position but it was nice to have a chat. It was also hard to hear that one of the students was wanting to do Veterinary Medicine but his father was forcing him to do business studies. I guess it happens everywhere, but what can you do!
Returning back to the the city I looked around to see what events might be happening for Chinese new year, but apart from some fireworks over the bay there wasn't much on and the next day was as much of a fizzle. That familiar mess of red paper that you even see in Canberra was nowhere to be found. I am guessing the firework laws are quite restrictive so that you are better off spending, Chinese New year outside of Malaysia, if you are looking for something spectacular. The only thing of note was, coming across a public meeting with the presence of the regional Sultan (i think), only noticeable due to large police presence in the street. After waiting outside the hall for 20min the Sultan came out and was surrounded by the usual chaos that accompanies such persons. He sped off with an entourage of what seemed like 20 cars.
The next day was hot and so after visiting Fort Cromwell (the first
English settlement on Pinang island) and some more aimless wandering I took refuge for the rest of the day at the inter net cafe and in my hotel before cathcing up with someone I met in the highlands.
Early the next morning I woke up and made the arduous journey across the border into Thailand. All went very smoothly, apart from the fact that one of the people on the minibus managed to get into Malaysia without getting her passport stamped (administrative error I am guessing) and thus could not be stamped out of Malaysia. While strangely enough still letting her cross the border, she would not be let in to Thailand because she didn't have a stamp out of Malaysia. After much deliberation with her friends, she eventually was left behind in no mans land by herself to try and make her way back to KL to get the paper sorted. Something that we westerners on the bus thought a little heartless that no one went with her for support. Dealing with immigration is never what you would call fun.
As we drove into Thailand the endless Palm trees of Malaysia, morphed into the endless Rubber trees of Thailand with the same level of deforestation (though plenty of Palm tress were to follow). Motorbikes turn into Utility vehicles, most of the relatively new. The peace of Malaysia becomes apparent as the chaos increasingly reigns. Most notably the mysterious third lane on Asia's roads starts to appear in greater number, making you hold firmly on your seat and hoping you will make it alive. From the moment you cross the border from the relatively calm ,organised and predictable Malaysia, you feel the increasing chaos that is Thailand come onto you, in which is good that you can then hide form it in paradise!
The bus journey was long an painful as the suspension on the bus was very loose, making each bump feel like a whack on the buttocks and we were glad to get off at the end in Ao Nanmg (there was a taxi ride in the middle that cost us each 100 baht that turned out to be the same bus we were travelling on), only to spend an hour wandering the street trying to find accommodation; again Chinese New Year booking everything out. Here I met Christian, Beccy and Kathryn who managed to get me in a bit of trouble but were very nice. We ended up staying together for two days and again I shared a room with a woman (Kathryn) I had only met that day. I stayed at Ao Nang for two nights and then moved to Tonsai Beach which is a rock climbing Mecca. Google it and you can see why!
I might leave it at that for this little segue way as it all goes a bit crazy from here that I will post i separately. Thanks for reading
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